Red Palm Mite – An Invasion in the Making
In 2004, the first red palm mites arrived on a Caribbean island from the Middle East – likely within baggage, industrial palm products, or other sources. By 2006, red palm mites could be found on at least nine Caribbean islands. However, the insect did not simply migrate to other areas – in fact, it launched an invasion, causing a population explosion the Caribbean and the Americas had never witnessed before.
What is the red palm mite? Why is this population explosion such a concern? What happens if the population moves into the United States? This brief overview of the red palm mite will answer these questions and more.
About the Red Palm Mite
The red palm mite, or raoiella indica, is a species of distinctive, red-bodied mite that is an invasive pest of over 30 different Middle Eastern and Caribbean palms. Since its Caribbean introduction in 2004, the red palm mite has become a pest in palm species native to Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Granada, the US Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Trinidad and Tobago, and St. Martin. It also infests banana trees and ginger plants.
Red palm mites live only 26 days, but produce large colonies of eggs on the underside of palm leaves. This species of mites can spread with the wind and other modes of transportation such human luggage, or via human transport of palm materials and palm greenery souvenirs between locations. Unfortunately, red palm mites turned up in over 400 locations in Florida as long ago as 2009.
Although they pose no ill health effects for humans, the red palm mite has the potential to wipe out the palm population. Since Florida palm products total just over $220 million in sales each year, infestation on US palms could be devastating to the Southern economy. Although major infestation has been avoided thus far, scientists and farmers alike continue to keep watch on this fascinating pest.